Komati Wins Award
News flash! South African ambassador in Spain receives prize on behalf of Komati Foundation.
KOMATI FOUNDATION WINS AWARD AT ECONOMIST / SPENCER STUART FUNCTION
The following remarks were made by the South African Ambassador to Spain, His Excellency Mr Gert Grobler, on receiving a donation for Komati Foundation from Mr José María Pujol, Chairman of Ficosa International, at The Economist/Spencer Stuart function, Ritz Hotel, Madrid, 17 June 2002.
Mr Master of Ceremonies, Distinguished Guests,
It is indeed a great pleasure to share this evening with you. More particularly because it involves a very commendable organisation from South Africa, the Komati Foundation.
What also very much pleases me, as the South African Ambassador, is to witness this constructive and spontaneous interaction and co-operation between Spain and South Africa. And I would therefore like to express my sincere thanks to Mr José María Pujol of FICOSA for his generous and much-appreciated gesture. The relations between South Africa and Spain are good, despite last week’s soccer game! On a more serious note, Spanish/South African relations are indeed good and growing. It is in this context that we appreciate this gesture to further co-operate with and assist South Africa.
We have made a great deal of progress in our country since the immoral and devastating burden of apartheid on the people of South Africa was lifted. We have a young but well entrenched democracy. The political situation is stable, the macro-economic fundamentals are sound and I believe the country has a bright future. In fact, what happened in South Africa over the last few years borders on a miracle. On the other hand, the country faces huge challenges and daunting problems. South Africa is a paradox, with a very affluent minority but the majority is still suffering as a result of years of discrimination during which they were denied so many opportunities. Poverty and misery are still part of the lives of far too many South Africans.
The South African Government is determined and committed to addressing these challenges and is in fact making progress. But Government cannot do it alone. We are fortunate to have a very active civil society in South Africa that is equally committed and working hard to address South Africa’s development needs. Amongst the many NGOs, the Komati Foundation stands out with its commitment to further transform South African society in the fields of education, human resource development, youth policy, social welfare and very importantly in the field of reconciliation, moral regeneration and spirituality.
There is, after all the destruction of apartheid, a great need to develop professional excellence, personal integrity and a spirit to serve society. And this is exactly what the Komati Foundation stands for and is doing.
It is against this background that this donation is a constructive and very helpful gesture to further empower South Africans to assist with the transformation of the country that has so much potential.
I would therefore like to thank the Economist/Spencer Stuart -- I may add that they are both household names in South Africa! -- for this event tonight and, in particular, Mr José María Pujol for your constructive contribution towards the future development of South Africa – a contribution very much in the spirit of President Mandela’s vision for South Africa of reconciliation, tolerance and humanity in our country.
Thank you.
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